Seven ranked teams at Louisville meet

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE — The 10th-ranked University of Arkansas women’s cross country team travels to Kentucky this weekend to compete at the Greater Louisville Classic. The gold-seeded 5K race is scheduled for a 9:15 a.m. (CT) start Saturday at EP Tom Sawyer State Park. Facing their largest field of competition, the Razorbacks are one of seven ranked teams in the race. “We’re walking right into the fire,” head coach Lance Harter said. “We’re going to see the best of the best. I think it will be a great test for us to see where we deserve to be. It will also be an opportunity for our young runners, and we have a lot of young ones, to see what real competition is all about.” The Razorbacks’ lineup of 13 runners is scheduled to feature Rachel Carpino, Kaitlin Flattmann, Codi Fritchie, Grace Heymsfield, Paige Johnston, Jessica Kamilos, Shannon Klenke, Valerie Reina, Diane Robison, Andrina Schlaepfer, Semehar Tesfaye, Kelsey Wheelhouse and Keri Wood. Robison (Razorback Invitational) and Tesfaye (adidas/UCI Invitational) have each won event titles this season. Saturday’s race will be Arkansas’ fourth of the season and the team’s first since the Sept. 15 First to the Finish Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo. Arkansas opened the season with team wins at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville and adidas/UCI Invitational in Irvine, Calif. The course at EP Tom Sawyer State Park will serve as the site of the 2012 NCAA Championship in Novemember. “(Running on the NCAA Championship course) really gives the kids a perspective of the challenges of the course,” Harter said. “I think it’s more important for the weeks prior and leading up to the national meet that they know how to prep for the course, both physically and mentally.” In addition to the Razorbacks, the 32-team field at the Greater Louisville Classic will also include top-ranked Washington, No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Arizona, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 17 Penn State and No. 29 Wisconsin. Arkansas and Vanderbilt are also two of seven Southeastern Conference teams in the field along with Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Ole Miss. In the Sept. 25 release of the USTFCCCA coaches’ poll, Arkansas dropped one spot to No. 10 after a bye week. As they have been all season, the Razorbacks remain the top-ranked team in the South Central region. For more information regarding Razorback cross country or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.